


Safe and Sound

by theimpossiblepossiblegirl



Series: 52 Short Stories in 52 Weeks [6]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, F/M, Non-graphic mention of character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 19:30:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5940445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theimpossiblepossiblegirl/pseuds/theimpossiblepossiblegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose wakes up and can immediate tell she's not going to have a good day. After losing her wallet and searching all over town for it, she comes home to discover her best mate waiting for her, having found her wallet. When everything from that day comes crashing down, he's there by her side, comforting her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Safe and Sound

**Author's Note:**

> Week 6 - A story about finding something that has been lost

Her mum would always say she would lose her head if it weren’t attached to her body. Today, of all days, was the day she lost her wallet. It was one of those mornings where you wake up and you’re already in a bad mood. She had been running late for an appointment, barely had time to stop for tea, and she still couldn’t remember when she lost her wallet. She hoped it wasn’t on the underground or the bus because then it would be a lost cause. She still had her Oyster card so she could get around but had no money for anything else. She stopped by the café on her way home to ask if anyone found it, but she had no luck. She had stopped in at the library during her travels that day so perhaps she could check there. When she arrived, the librarian didn’t have it.

She wouldn’t cry. Not today. It had been miserable enough without adding her tears. She knew she would need to call her bank and have her bankcard cancelled and new one issued. It was a Friday so she wasn’t sure when she would get it. That would mean she would have to dip into her emergency money to get it. A sense of panic washed over as she realized she would need to cancel her credit cards as soon as possible too. Oh and her license was in there. Whoever had her wallet knew where she lived now. That wasn’t good. She didn’t want to move, not after finally settling in her new flat. As she gets off on her stop, Rose treks the four blocks to her flat. _I’m not going to cry. I’m not going to cry._ She repeated the phrase to herself as she walked.

Why couldn’t she had lost something less important than her wallet? Oh if her mother could see her now. Rose sniffled at that though, holding back the tears. She wouldn’t cry, not now. She never allowed herself to cry on this particular day. As she walked down the hallway to her flat, Rose saw a hunched figure crowding her doorway. Oh great, she was going to die. How ironic. She could use her keys as a weapon. She did have them on one of those lanyard things. But she wouldn’t do much damage. Digging around in her bag she pulled her keys out before digging around for her cell phone. Bloody purse was too big, she kept losing things in it. But not her wallet. That was gone forever. Right, back to the stranger in her hallway. Wait, that stranger looked familiar to her.

“Chris?” Rose approached, letting out a small sigh. “Everything all right?”

“How come you’re not answering your bloody phone?” He questioned as he looked up at her. All day, all bloody day he was sitting in front of her door waiting for her, just because she wasn’t answering her phone.

She let out a sigh and handed him her keys to let himself into the apartment before she dug through her purse. “My phone isn’t in my purse. Great, I lost that too.” She mumbled to herself before hearing Chris’ ringtone coming from her closed door. “I must have left it home then. I’m sorry. What’s so bloody important that you’ve been looking for me?”

“I found your wallet this morning at the café. Been trying to return it, me.” He held said item out for her to take.

Rose would have wept with relief if she felt comfortable crying in front of him. Taking the wallet from him, she let out a quiet sniffle. “Thank you. I’m having a really bad day.” After he unlocked the door for the two of them, she saw her phone sitting on her counter.

“What happened?” He questioned softly, closing the door behind them. “Just woke up in a bad mood, late to boot. Panicked about my wallet most of the afternoon. Had I not left my phone home, would have known sooner you had it.”

“I tried to wave you down after you left, but you were in a rush.”

Chris had been her mate for the past six or so years. They had met when Rose was working in one of the department stores and Chris was fixing the servers or something in it, she couldn’t really remember. He had been in the computer room, as Rose called it, when the fire alarms had gone off. She was passing by when he grabbed her hand and told her to run. The next thing Rose knew was she was across the street, holding onto Chris’ hand while her job filled with smoke. Thankfully everyone made it out in time, but it meant Rose was without a job, _again._ Turned out Chris needed an extra set of hands at his office and had offered it to Rose. They had been mates ever since.

He knew what today was and had given her the day off, saying he could handle the office by himself while she took a day off. He had wanted to bring her some tea from her favorite café but just as he walked in, she walked out, leaving her wallet behind. Looking at her now, he could see she was upset. Too much had happened to her and she needed someone to be there for her. Walking up to her, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

“It’s okay to miss her, Rose.” He whispered softly, running his hand up and down her back.

It had been two years since she had lost Jackie. He had been by her side two years ago when she received the call, and last year when she had broken down in his office. As her body began to shake, he could hear her sobs. He wanted to take her pain away, but he couldn’t. He could sympathize, as he lost his family too, but to see his pink and yellow girl this upset, it killed him. Chris moved them to sit on the floor in her kitchen, rocking them slowly. When she had calmed enough, he pressed a kiss to her forehead before handing her the packet of tissues he kept in his back pocket. He mostly carried them around for her, since she could never find hers in her bag, but he was glad he did.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Rose. It’s better to let it out. Holding it in won’t help.”

Rose had turned twenty-five a few days before and had to go see her parents’ barrister that morning to collect the inheritance her they had left her. All of those daft ideas her father had sold before he died ten years earlier had made their family a profit. Once Jackie passed away, it was left to Rose to collect on her twenty-fifth birthday.

“I know, you’re right. Mum used to say the same thing. She would have had a laugh if she knew you had found my wallet for me.” Rose gave him a small smile, wiping her eyes with a tissue. “I know she slapped you the first time she met you, but she did like you.”

“I liked her too.” Chris admitted softly, watching her.

“I can’t believe you waited all day here for me. You could have stuck a piece of paper on my door letting me know you had my wallet.”

“Don’t trust your neighbors that much. Wanted to see you.”

“You saved me from having to move, by finding it. All I could think of, was some random bloke had it and was going to come after me one night while I was asleep. And you saved me from having to cancel all of my cards.” Rose stood up and held her hand out to him, helping him up from the ground. “I was thinking of ordering Chinese since you found my wallet. Do you want to stay and have dinner with me? As a thank you for finding my wallet and all of that.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me. Why don’t you take a minute, wash your face and all of that and I’ll call it in. Want your usual?”

“Please.” Rose leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek before heading into her room for her pajamas and to take a minute to herself.

After Chris found the menu and placed their orders, he sat down on her couch to wait for her. He knew what it was like, losing his parents. Rose had been so young when it happened, both times. He had been thirty when he lost his parents five years ago. Rose had been there for him when it happened and when she lost Jackie, he was there for her. It had been a favor he really never wanted to return. When Rose walked into the living room and sat down next to him, he put his arm around her, just to make sure she was okay. She put the television on, not to watch it, but to have some background noise.

“Thanks for being here for me.”

“You would do the same.”

Rose got up from the couch when their food arrived and carried it into the kitchen while Chris pulled some plates down from the cabinet. They had dinner together at least once a week so he knew his way around her kitchen. He could tell she still wasn’t completely settled in the flat, despite having lived there for the past ten months, but this was also the first flat she had lived in that she hadn’t shared with her mum.

“Do you want me to stay tonight? I can kip on the couch.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you did.” She was usually fine on her own, could handle her emotions herself but once it a while it was nice to have someone there for her.

“You should reconsider getting a flatmate.”

“Between my nightmares and some of the weird hours I work, thanks to you, who would I live with?”

“Oi, not all of our hours are weird.” He gave her a grin, letting her know he was teasing her before he took a sip of water. “The flat about the shop has an extra room. Could do with a flatmate, me."

“I’ll think about it, Chris.” She told him, giving him a soft smile. Reaching over, she grabbed one of the fortune cookies and pulled it out of its wrapper before cracking it in half to read her fortune. “True love is closer than you think.” Rose snorted softly before sitting forward in her chair. “Let’s see what yours says.”

“Don’t know why you read these stupid things.” He mumbled as he grabbed his own, pulling it from the wrapper as he cracked it open. “Go for it.”

“Really?” Rose grinned, reaching over to check it.

Christ decided just this once, he would listen to the cookie. Leaning in, he kissed her softly, cupping her hand in his face when she responded to the kiss. When he pulled back, the tips of his ears were red and they were both grinning at each other. Sometimes losing things meant bringing other things together. Rose was glad, just this once, that she had lost something only to find something else.


End file.
